A charge-air cooler is a thermal-management mechanical device used to cool a fluid, including liquids or gases, between stages of a multi-stage heating process. Typically, a charge-air cooler is a heat exchanger that removes waste heat from a gas compressor. Charge-air coolers are used in many applications, including internal combustion engines, air compressors, air conditioners, refrigerators, and gas turbines.
Charge-air coolers are also widely known in the automotive industry as air-to-air or air-to-liquid coolers for internal combustion engines utilizing forced induction, such as via turbocharging or supercharging. In such automotive applications, charge-air coolers are used to improve the engine's volumetric efficiency by increasing density of an intake air charge through nearly isobaric, i.e., constant pressure, cooling.